


It's (almost) All About Timing

by theianitor



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Boys Kissing, M/M, Old Married Couple, Racing, Set in 2010, Soulmate-Identifying Timers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:46:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25582312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theianitor/pseuds/theianitor
Summary: Everyone has a timer on their wrist, which counts down to when they will meet their soulmate - or rather, their possible soulmate. Niki and James had their fair share of un-zeroings in their youth, but they've been together, zeroed, for a long time now.Their son, Jenson, hasn't been so lucky.
Relationships: James Hunt/Niki Lauda, Jenson Button/Sebastian Vettel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44
Collections: Summer Break Fics 2020





	It's (almost) All About Timing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thepumpkineater](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepumpkineater/gifts).



> Hello! :) I hope you like this, I'd honestly forgotten how much I enjoy Niki and James. They're such a joy, and I LOVE Sebson, so... I hope you enjoy it too! <3  
> And as always, huge kudoses to Rabbit for setting the exchange up!

\- 2010, European GP -

The cars roared past the start-finish straight outside and Niki carefully watched the screens before him. Habitually, he touched his hearing protection tighter to his ears, and then checked the television feed. Two teams seemed to be preparing to pit, which was lunacy so late in the race. Checking the time sheet, it did seem that if Kobayashi had a good stop, he might still be in the points. Still, he wouldn’t be high enough to challenge the top five, nor indeed the top three. Jenson was running in third with a very, very slim chance of overtaking his teammate.

Something poking at his shoulder made Niki look over. He startled, James’ smiling face much closer than expected. There was a cigarette hanging from his lip and he looked quite at his ease, but the way his long, blond hair was swept back betrayed his actual feelings; James ran his hands through his hair obsessively when he was nervous about the outcome of a race.

“What do you want?” Niki asked gruffly, taking off the hearing protection and being careful to keep his cap in place.

“The race is done, I want to go down to the podium.”

“They’re not done _yet_.”

“Oh come on,” James said, waving his hand at the screens. “Three laps to go and the Red Bull out in front? They’re done, come on, let’s go.”

Niki looked around, noting that a fair few of the McLaren engineers were pretending very much like they hadn’t heard the exchange. There wasn’t much use arguing with James when he was in that kind of mood, and he was technically right – not that Niki would tell him that. The races where James tagged along as family rather than correspondent were nice, in a way, because it meant spending more time together with their son. It was also a huge hassle, dealing with both of them and their constant need for adult supervision.

Putting the hearing protection down on the desk, he followed James out the back of the garage. A few of the staff still shot James sideways glances, not sure about how to feel with a _reporter_ in their midst, walking around freely. Him being Jenson’s dad counted for _something_ , but they still treated him a bit more warily than they did Niki.

“I have a theory,” James said, as soon as they were out behind the garages.

“Mhm?”

“I think he’s found someone.”

Niki stopped dead in his tracks, blinking. He’d been expecting paddock gossip, staff changes, rumors about contracts. Jenson had come to them twice before, overjoyed that his timer had reached zero – only to be disappointed a few weeks later when more time was added to the little display on his wrist.

“What?”

“Jenson,” James said, grinning broadly. “You know, tall-ish lad, around thirty, English accent, racecar driver? Your son?”

“I know who he is,” Niki spat, “what do you mean he is seeing someone?”

“I think he’s met somebody, and I think he’s met somebody _here_.”

James looked incredibly smug, taking a few backwards steps away from Niki and making him follow. They always drew looks in the paddock; two world champions could hardly walk around unnoticed, but people generally knew better than to approach. James, who was still fairly well kept despite his age and his smoking, could still draw eyes all by himself. Niki had found himself countless times thinking his husband was very handsome, but he never knew if that made him feel more like kissing him, or thumping him.

Their meeting hadn’t been a completely straight road either, so they had both been understanding of Jenson’s problem. When James and Niki had first met, they liked each other well enough. Throughout their rivalry Niki swore their feelings shifted so fast sometimes that even their timers had trouble keeping up. Their longest time away from each other had been the six months when Niki had decided he didn’t need the heartache anymore. James had worked very hard to get things back on track, and they had been ‘zeroed’ ever since.

“Why would he have met somebody here, now? I thought he was with...” Niki’s eyebrows drew close together while he thought. He wasn’t trying to be mean, he simply couldn’t remember the young woman’s name. “That actress.”

“That was ages ago Niki, do try to keep up.”

“I _can’t_ keep up. He goes through them a little fast, doesn’t he?”

James made a face. “He’s _young_ , it’s fine to fool around when you’re young.”

“Some people are fools even when they’re not so young,” Niki grumbled. James just laughed.

“Youth might fade, foolery lasts forever? I guess I should know, I married you.”

“That only proves that even blind chickens sometimes find a seed.”

“You wound me, Niki, you really do.”

“Hmpf.”

They walked on, the lane behind the garages mostly empty. They could hear the roar of the crowd as the cars crossed the finish line, and they were almost at the corridor to the area below the podium.

“So who do you think he’s seeing? Why do you think it’s somebody from around here?”

James gave him a thoughtful look and then shrugged.

“I caught sight of his timer on the flight. He’s zeroed.”

Again, Niki stopped, staring at his husband with his mouth open in surprise.

“But he hasn’t said anything!”

“Right,” James said, stopping too and lowering his voice. Everyone had a soulmate, and everyone knew timers could be fickle – in some people more than in others – but it wasn’t polite to talk about someone’s soulmate-troubles where others might hear. “That’s why I think it might actually be _the one_ this time.”

Niki closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes. It made sense, he supposed. Back in their day, he hadn’t cared. People could infer whatever they wanted from his sometimes-zeroed-sometimes-not timer, Niki had always come to race, and if people had a problem with that they could kiss his ass. But Jenson had always been somewhat flighty when it came to his emotions. He fell in love easily, and his timer seemed to reflect it. Or maybe he had just hoped, each time, that it would actually be _his_ time.

“So why do you think... this time?” Niki didn’t want to mention it, it felt like it might curse it to mention that maybe, just maybe, they should prepare for picking their son back up again if he, once more, got his heart broken.

“Just a feeling I got,” James shrugged and kept walking, “since first off he didn’t say anything this time. I’ve no idea how long it’s been, and I didn’t ask.”

Niki nodded; at least his dear husband had _some_ sense.

“Also,” James continued, “in case you hadn’t noticed, this year he’s gotten in the habit of heading out a day before us, leaves a day or so later, and he’s packed that light blue shirt you gave him for christmas a couple of times now.”

“It’s not bad to want to look nice, he has nothing but team clothing!” Niki interjected.

Stopping again, James heaved a long-suffering sigh.

“Look, if he just needed a shirt, any shirt would do. He’s picking his _nice_ shirt. He’s dressing _for_ somebody.”

Niki shook his head and pulled the door open.

“Just because he’s your son, doesn’t mean he’s _you_. He doesn’t feel the need to impress people with his clothing.”

“If he’s anything like me, he’s going to end up with some German asshole,” James said, using the fact that he was taller than Niki to take over holding the door and bow him in before him.

“I’m Austrian.”

“I know dear, but there are no Austrians on the grid, are there?”

\--

They watched their son celebrate on the podium with his teammate, who had come in second, and Vettel, who had finished first. Things were a bit different than back in their day, but national anthems, trophies and champagne stayed the same. Niki had already voiced the opinion that the Red Bull looked fast this year, and with Sebastian proving himself a very competitive driver, Jenson would have to get used to seeing him on the podium.

“I’m telling you,” James said, looking around conspiratorially and putting an arm around Niki’s shoulders. “Something’s different.”

Niki hummed, looking on as the drivers sprayed champagne and waved to their teams, hugging and celebrating. If Jenson was happier than usual, _now_ wasn’t really the time to try to tell. A trophy was always a nice takeaway from a day of racing, after all.

“I’ll prove it to you.” James took out his mobile phone and typed out a message.

“What are you going to do, just _ask_ him?”

Looking as insufferably smug as only he could, James put his phone away.

“Wait and see, dear, wait and see.”

\--

By the time they were at the celebratory dinner James had invited their son to that night, Niki had to admit something _was_ different. Jenson had gotten through his press duties and gone back to the hotel to change, and while he was in a good mood about the points and the fact that nobody had been hurt despite a somewhat chaotic race, he seemed kind of eager to leave.

Eager to leave was an understatement, Niki thought. Jenson kept fiddling with the sweatband he used to cover up his timer and couldn’t seem to sit still, and kept taking his phone out to glance at it, several times tapping out quick messages. If it hadn’t been so funny – and if he hadn’t had it set to silent – Niki would have said something earlier.

“Something the matter?” James asked, sitting back in his chair.

They’d had a nice dinner but it had escaped neither of his parents that Jenson had eaten rather quickly. James was also pretty eager to have a word with Niki about the longing look their son had sent towards the hotel bar, where some of the Red Bull team had already started celebrating when they left for the restaurant.

“No no, nothing at all.”

“Yes, we didn’t want to take you away from the team,” Niki added, taking another sip of his beer, “but since we’re leaving tomorrow we wanted to see you.”

“Yeah, ‘course,” Jenson said, and he actually smiled. “I like seeing you too, it’s just been a bit of a long day, you know.”

“Yeah, you don’t have to tell us!” James laughed. “Before you were ready to leave the paddock I was pretty sure Niki would have socked that complete arse from German TV, what’s his name?”

“Kai,” Niki grumbled. “He never knows when to shut up.”

James and Jenson both laughed, and James dove in to the telling of Kai’s latest offences. He had taken Jenson’s third place as an opportunity to grill Niki about McLaren’s chances and point out, several times over, how quick the Red Bulls were looking.

While James talked, Niki noticed how Jenson’s eyes kept dropping to his father’s zeroed-out timer. James had unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up, only deigning to keep his fancy shirt proper for so long, and Niki very much suspected it was a tactical move. In the past, Jenson hadn’t given his parents’ timers much attention, only asking for their story when he was younger. After his relationships with his would-be soulmates had ended, he’d seemed almost in pain when he’d spotted others’ timers.

Now there was a curiosity in his eyes, like he’d ask something about it if they just sat here long enough. James was right, Niki had to admit. Something about _this_ time was different.

When James asked if anybody wanted dessert, Jenson looked uncomfortable.

“Sorry dad, I have to go, Mikey wants to meet up tomorrow and...”

“Go, go,” Niki waved towards the door. “We will be at the next one.”

“Yeah and I’m working so don’t screw it up!” James added.

“’Course not,” Jenson chuckled, getting up so fast his chair almost fell backwards. “Text me when your flight gets in and everything?”

“Of course.”

“Have a good night, son.”

“You too. Oh and dad, don’t let pops stay out too late?”

Niki chuckled and gave his son a hug while James pretended to be annoyed. He still brought his son in for a warm hug and congratulated him again on a good race. They watched him go out the door and get into a taxi outside. Only when he was out of sight did they both start talking at the same time.

“Did you see the-”

“Did you notice when-”

They both stopped, and then laughed together.

“You first,” Niki said with a little nod.

“We’re going to need more beer,” James replied, raising his hand to get the waiter’s attention.

\--

A couple of drinks later Niki and James decided to walk back to the hotel. It was a warm night and they walked along, arm in arm, still talking about this and that, with the subject now and then flowing back to their son.

“What about Kimi?” Niki asked.

“Urgh, no.”

Niki looked to his husband in surprise.

“I thought you liked him?”

“I do, he’s fun and a good driver but isn’t he a bit... you know?”

“You mean he likes to party a little bit too much maybe?” Niki said with a sly smile. “Who do I know who is just like that?”

“Oh shut up.”

They were approaching the hotel by the time James spoke up again.

“Do you think it might be Hamilton?”

“I hope not,” Niki scoffed, “being with the teammate, it never works.”

“Maybe not,” James said thoughtfully. “It’d be nice with another world champion in the family though.” He nudged his husband in the side with his elbow.

Niki chuckled, thinking to himself that neither of them had been champions when they’d first met, that it was the last thing that mattered.

When they got back to the hotel they’d been quiet for a little while, walking in companionable silence. The Red Bull party was still going on in the bar, now with the added presence of a dozen or so girls in very short skirts, and a handful of boys in what James had always called ‘advertising pants’. Niki spotted at least three wearing the yellow glow-in-the-dark bracelets some youngsters wore – and had worn even back when he and James had been young – in an effort to highlight the still-counting timers on their wrists. It was a way of signaling availability.

“The Red Bull lot will have a fun flight in the morning,” James said in a theatrical whisper, leading the way to the elevator.

“Sometimes I’m glad we’re getting older,” Niki replied, pressing the button for their floor.

“Not _that_ old,” James cut in. Age was still something of a sensitive subject to him; it was probably the sole reason Jenson called him ‘pops’, and whenever Niki pointed out that they were in fact getting older, James would have some kind of objection. “Remember when Jenson got the championship? _That’s_ not something _old_ people do, is it..?”

He leaned in to kiss his husband’s cheek, while Niki started laughing.

“You’re lucky you didn’t break a hip, falling off that table!”

The elevator doors opened and they both stepped out, turning left to get to their room. James was just about to make a retort when he stopped so suddenly Niki almost tripped over trying to swerve past him.

“It’s _Vettel_ ,” he hissed in a whisper.

“What?” Niki wasn’t sure why, but he whispered back to James. Apparently it wasn’t quiet enough.

“Shh!”

James stepped aside in an effort to hide behind nothing at all; the corridor was completely open once you were around the corner. Still, the two people they’d walked in on hadn’t seen them.

About halfway down the hall their son was much too busy kissing one of his championship rivals to notice much of anything. Sebastian Vettel had him pushed up against the wall, kissing him fiercely with his arms around his neck. They’d clearly recently arrived and not made it any further, if their progress was anything to go by; Niki thought they’d better make it into a room soon, or there’d be a proper scene in the hallway.

Jenson’s hands slipped down Sebastian’s back and to his rear. Sebastian only stopped kissing him long enough to take a little skip, Jenson catching him easily and Seb wrapping his legs around his waist. Jenson turned them around, probably bringing them a few inches closer to whatever room they were aiming for, and pressed Sebastian’s back up against the wall.

Niki cleared his throat loudly.

The two drivers stopped kissing and Vettel was obviously sober enough to find his feet quite quickly, landing on the floor and hopping in halfway behind Jenson.

“Niki!” James said in a scandalized tone.

“What, you wanted to try to get _around_ them?”

“Not like they’d have noticed...”

“Dad what the hell are you doing here?” Jenson’s voice cracked slightly.

“We’re _staying_ here,” Niki said dryly.

“Ah... eh... well. This... this is Sebastian,” Jenson said sheepishly.

“We’ve met,” James said, trying to keep the amusement in his voice to a minimum. “So this is who you were dodging dinner with the folks to go see?”

“I... eh...”

Jenson seemed to have completely lost the ability to speak.

“Sir, I’m sorry...” Sebastian started, stepping out from behind Jenson. His cheeks were very red and the color was spreading up to his ears.

“Oh stop that,” Niki said, waving his hand. “Is it you the timer stopped for?”

“Eh... yes, sir.” Sebastian held out his arm as if proof would be necessary for some reason. It didn’t matter; at this distance, there was no way they could see his timer.

“How’d you know it stopped?” Jenson was looking at his fathers in turn. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t have to,” James said. “We guessed, but we didn’t know who it’d stopped for.”

“It happened in February,” Sebastian piped up. As soon as he’d spoken he shut his mouth again, glancing at Jenson like he was worried he’d said something inappropriate. Jenson reached over and took his hand.

“February?” James’s eyes were wide in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah I...” it was Jenson’s turn to look at Sebastian with something like an apology. “We wanted to go slow. Make sure.”

“It didn’t look much like taking it slow just now,” Niki grumbled. James put one arm around his shoulder and gave him a little push.

“Well, good night you two,” he said loudly.

“Hang on-” Niki tried, but James’s pushing, in combination with the drinks after dinner, seemed to make it harder to stand still.

“We’ll talk about this later,” James said sternly, turning to shoot Jenson a smile and then winking at Sebastian. “Play safe, lads.”

He managed to get Niki past the couple with minimal complaints and somehow got him into their room. Not even ten seconds later, he heard the sounds of another door opening and closing in the hallway, and assumed Jenson and Sebastian had taken themselves to a more private setting.

“Sebastian Vettel,” Niki said, still feeling a little shocked. Then he had to chuckle. “At least there will be another world champion in the family, if the year keeps going like this.”

“February,” James said, shaking his head. “He’s _really_ trying to make sure, isn’t he?”

“That’s a good thing.” Niki sat down to take his shoes off. “Do you think it’s right this time?”

“If they’ve been going slow since February, I’d have to say yes. They’ve obviously talked about it, at least. And considering how they were acting out there, they’ve got three out of three keys to a successful relationship.”

“Keys?” Niki asked. James toed off his sneakers and took Niki’s cap by the brim, pulling it off his head. He leaned down and kissed his husband on the forehead.

“Communication, attraction, and timing.”

\- The End -

**Author's Note:**

> All in good fun, as per usual! :)  
> Thanks for the read! <3


End file.
